Magnum – Contact Sheets in Istanbul

“Magnum – Contact Sheets” is a major exhibition that takes the contact sheet as the basis for exploring the creative process behind some of the world’s most iconic photographs from the Magnum Photos agency. The exhibition gives audiences remarkable access and insight into the decision-making processes of many of Magnum’s famous members through the inclusion of first-person accounts. With the development of digital technologies and their huge impact on photographic production, this exploration of photography’s analogue period sets out to both investigate and celebrate a technique that is becoming increasingly historic; to provide an “epitaph”, in the words of Martin Parr.

A contact print is obtained by exposing an image or a set of images against a single sheet of photographic paper of the same size as the negative. Often compared to an artist’s sketchbook, contact sheets are the photographer’s first look at what he or she has captured on the film roll. Because contact sheets provide raw images of the photographs, without any interventions in the process, they offer the artist an opportunity for self-criticism and making a choice. In this sense, looking at contact sheets is like entering the photographer’s private area of work, which he or she keeps secret. On the other hand, by showing us the before and after of the unique scene selected by the photographer, they enable us to witness how that moment came to be. They give the viewer a sense of walking alongside the photographer and seeing through their eyesas they capture the scene. Contact sheets give clues as to the artist’s working process, the way they approach the subject matter and the extent to which the selected snapshot reflects reality.

Shedding light on the behind the scenes process of Magnum photographers, the exhibition reproduces work from over seventy years of visual history, including the D-Day landings by Robert Capa, the 1968 Paris riots by Bruno Barbey, Stuart Franklin’s Tiananmen Square, the Vietnam war by Philip Jones Griffiths and 9/11 by Thomas Hoepker. It showcases iconic portraiture of political figures, actors, artists and musicians, from Che Guevara and Malcolm X, to Miles Davies and The Beatles. Contact sheets and photographs are accompanied by close-up details, articles, books and magazine spreads.

Magnum – Contact Sheets in Istanbul
February 26 – August 2, 2015

İstanbul Museum of Modern Art
Meclis-i Mebusan Cad. Liman İşletmeleri Sahası Antrepo 4, 34433
Karaköy – İSTANBUL TURKEY
www.istanbulmodern.org

FRANCE. Normandy. W.W.II. Operation OVERLORD.  Omaha Beach. June 6th, 1944. In June 1944 the Allied forces opened a second front in Normandy (after the one in North Africa and Italy) to liberate France. On June 6th, in what was later called D-Day, 90,000 soldiers landed on Omaha Beach (the coded name for Coleville-sur-Mer). Many of them were killed by German troops, but the Allies managed nonetheless to defeat the Germans.  FRANCE. Normandy. W.W.II. Operation OVERLORD.  Omaha Beach. June 6th, 1944. The first wave of American troops lands at dawn.
FRANCE. Normandy. W.W.II. Operation OVERLORD.
Omaha Beach. June 6th, 1944.
FRANCE. Normandy. Omaha Beach. The first wave of American troops lands at dawn. June 6th, 1944.
FRANCE. Normandy. Omaha Beach. The first wave of American troops lands at dawn. June 6th, 1944.
Salvador DALI, Spanish painter. "Dali Atomicus".
Salvador DALI, Spanish painter.
“Dali Atomicus”.
USA. 1948. Salvador DALI, Spanish painter. "Dali-Atomicus."
USA. 1948. Salvador DALI, Spanish painter. “Dali-Atomicus.”
USSR. Moscow. 1959. Nikita KHRUSHCHEV and Richard NIXON.
USSR. Moscow. 1959. Nikita KHRUSHCHEV and Richard NIXON.
CONTACT SHEET. Russia. Moscow. 1959.
CONTACT SHEET. Russia. Moscow. 1959.

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CUBA. Havana. Ministry of Industry. Ernesto GUEVARA (Che), Argentinian politician, Minister of industry (1961-1965) during an exclusive interview in his office. Contact sheet. 1963.
CUBA. Havana. Ministry of Industry. Ernesto GUEVARA (Che), Argentinian politician, Minister of industry (1961-1965) during an exclusive interview in his office. Contact sheet. 1963.
FRANCE. Paris. May 6th 1968. 6th arrondissement. Boulevard Saint Germain. Students hurling projectiles against the police.
FRANCE. Paris. May 6th 1968. 6th arrondissement. Boulevard Saint Germain. Students hurling projectiles against the police.

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CHINA. Beijing. Tiananmen Square. 'the tank man' 4th June 1989.
CHINA. Beijing. Tiananmen Square. ‘the tank man’ 4th June 1989.

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ALBANIA. Tirana. The Central Railway station. 1991.
ALBANIA. Tirana. The Central Railway station. 1991.

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RUSSIA. Altai Territory. 2000. Villagers collecting scrap from a crashed spacecraft, surrounded by thousands of white butterflies.  Environmentalists fear for the region's future due to the toxic rocket fuel.
RUSSIA. Altai Territory. 2000. Villagers collecting scrap from a crashed spacecraft, surrounded by thousands of white butterflies. Environmentalists fear for the region’s future due to the toxic rocket fuel.
RUSSIA. Altai Territory. 2000. Contact sheet.
RUSSIA. Altai Territory. 2000. Contact sheet.
USA. Brooklyn, New York. September 11, 2001. Young people relax during their lunch break along the East River while a huge plume of smoke rises from Lower Manhattan after the attack on the World Trade Center.
USA. Brooklyn, New York. September 11, 2001. Young people relax during their lunch break along the East River while a huge plume of smoke rises from Lower Manhattan after the attack on the World Trade Center.
CONTACT SHEET. USA. New York. September 11, 2001.
CONTACT SHEET. USA. New York. September 11, 2001.

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